Crane collapses into Sydney Harbour in front of Luna Park

A crane has collapsed into Sydney Harbour, snapping a large cable which damaged the iconic facade of Luna Park.

Luke Bayly watched the crane topple from a barge about 1pm near Milsons Point on Sydney's lower north shore.

A crane has collapsed into Sydney Harbour near the iconic Luna Park. Credit:Luke Bayly/@bayly

"It was a huge bang, it startled me, I thought a bomb had gone off," he told ABC News.

Fire and Rescue NSW was not called to the incident. A salvage operation is under way.

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The crane, positioned under the Harbour Bridge, was being used to build the new Milsons Point ferry wharf.

A spokesperson for SafeWork NSW said police had alerted them to the incident and inspectors were on their way to the site.

It is unclear at this stage what caused the incident on Waterway Construction's barge.

"Roads and Maritime Services is supporting Safework NSW as it investigates an incident on a worksite near Milsons Point Wharf which involved a barge-mounted crane in Sydney Harbour," a Roads and Maritime Services spokesperson told Fairfax Media.

Another witness, Daniel Da Silva, whose boat charter business is located in the neighbouring marina, heard the crane fall and went to investigate after receiving a call from a tenant.

"I also heard the bang but didn't know what it was so I jumped in the tender and raced out to see if one of our tenant's boats had exploded," Mr Da Silva said.

Charter boat owner Luke Feledy was working on his boat nearby when he heard a "bang".

"I looked up and there was this huge wave of sea spray caused by the crane crashing into the water," Mr Feledy said.

"The bang was like this massive crack sound and I am pretty sure something snapped or broke for sure."

Witnesses also saw a cable snap from the crane as it fell into the water which landed on the entrance to Luna Park.

"During work being carried out on the wharf at Milsons Point today on behalf of Roads and Maritime Services, it appears that the collapse of a crane on a barge led to wire being thrown onto the area above the top of the 'face' of Luna Park Sydney," a spokesperson for the amusement park said.

"There appears to be some damage to the face which we are yet to examine. Importantly, no one was hurt in the incident."

The crane was removed from the water early on Wednesday morning using another crane on a barge, an RMS spokeswoman said.

The boom arm of the crane was lifted onto a second barge before being towed to Glebe Island, where SafeWork NSW is examining it as part of its investigation.

The crane collapse is the latest work site incident to take place on the harbour in several months.

In March, a man was killed was working on a barge during building of the Barangaroo ferry wharf when he was struck by a metal object.